Bradford & Bingley 21 Pocklington 6

THIS victory was founded on an excellent performance from the home pack, who maintained the upper hand throughout.

Leading the charge for the Bees was Tom Cokell, who put in a man-of-the-match performance and picked up two tries from close range.

In the reverse fixture in October, the Pocklington eight had been dominant but on a very sticky Wagon Lane pitch the visitors never really got going as the hosts won the territorial and possession battles.

Richard Scull and Shaun Driver steered the game well from half-back and the veteran partnership of Stuart Dixon and Richard Tafa made several telling breaks upfield, and also tackled everything that Pocklington sent through the midfield glue.

Pocklington opened the scoring with a penalty on 11 minutes and also closed the half with another three-pointer as the East Yorkshire side played down the slight slope in the first half.

The only try scored in the opening 40 came after half an hour as Cokell ploughed over from short range.

There had been little to chose between the sides in the first half but the Bees clearly upped their game after the interval.

Sustained pressure on the visitors' line was rewarded with Cokell's second score on 52 minutes, and within three minutes the visitors were back behind the sticks watching another Scull conversion after Dixon intercepted a loose pass and galloped home. With 25 minutes to play, the Bees pressed for the fourth bonus-point try but could not turn their possession into points.